On which I write about the books I read, science, science fiction, fantasy, and anything else that I want to. Currently trying to read and comment upon every novel that has won the Hugo and International Fantasy awards.

Sunday, October 30, 1977

Comments: One way that a new award can build up credibility quickly is by handing awards to established artists, and hoping that some of their gravitas will adhere to the award itself. And the World Fantasy Award seems to have been constructed at least in part to try to accomplish this via the inclusion of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which gave the judges the opportunity to honor some prominent writers right off the bat. This year the award went to Ray Bradbury, who followed Fritz Lieber winning it in 1976, and Robert Bloch in 1975. And as a result, the World Fantasy Award was able to claim these titanic figures as its own from the award's very earliest years.

What the World Fantasy Awards really couldn't claim at this point in time was women authors. Despite Patricia McKillip winning the first World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for her book The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, the awards had otherwise completely ignored the female half of the human race. Through 1975, 1976, and 1977, the only other female nominee for a World Fantasy Award was Shelley Torgeson, who was nominated (and won) this year for the Special Award, Professional, but she had to share that award with her husband Roy. And there really is no excuse for ignoring the contributions of female authors in 1977, as they had produced many significant works of fantasy fiction in the year, such as Patricia McKillip's Heir of Sea and Fire, Susan Cooper's Silver on the Tree, and Andre Norton's Trey of Swords. There was simply no justification for overlooking women this way, and the fact that the World Fantasy Awards did so is a travesty.

Other Nominees:The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John SteinbeckDark Crusade by Karl Edward WagnerThe Doll Who Ate His Mother by Ramsey CampbellThe Dragon and the George by Gordon R. DicksonThe Sailor on the Seas of Fate by Michael Moorcock

Other Nominees:Cinnabar by Edward BryantFlashing Swords #3: Warriors and Wizards edited by Lin CarterThe Height of the Scream by Ramsey CampbellLong After Midnight by Ray BradburySuperhorror edited by Ramsey Campbell

All writing that appears on this blog is copyrighted to Aaron Pound and may not be reproduced without permission. Any elements that appear that are not copyrighted to me are used for criticism or commentary pursuant to the provisions of 17 U.S.C. § 170.